The present invention relates generally to furniture, and relates more particularly to seating units.
Many residences today include a seating unit, such as a sofa or chair, near which is placed a table, such as a coffee table or end table. Coffee tables can provide a surface for supporting food and drink and displaying decorative items or reading materials, and can also by themselves improve the appearance of the room. Likewise, end tables can provide a support surface for these items as well as reading lamps, telephones and the like.
One of the drawbacks of the support surfaces provided by coffee tables and end tables is the inconvenient location of the support surface relative to an occupant of the seating unit. For example, if the occupant rests a plate of food or a drinking glass on the coffee table, he must lean forward from a seated position to retrieve it; this is somewhat awkward, particularly with seating units that employ deep, soft cushions. If the occupant wishes to eat from the plate or drink from the glass, he has two options. First, he can lean over the table while eating or drinking, which can be even more awkward then simply leaning over the table to retrieve the plate. Second, the occupant can grasp the plate and carefully balance it as it travels with him to the seated position, after which he must support the plate as he eats. Either of these options can be unsatisfactory, as the risk of the occupant spilling food or drink onto the table, the underlining floor (which is often carpeted), or the seating unit itself is significant.
The situation is typically no better with an end table; the occupant must twist to retrieve the plate or glass from the end table and either consume in this awkward twisted position or balance the plate or glass as it travels and resides above the seating unit. Often the difficulty is exasperated by the presence of an armrest on the end of the seating unit that the occupant must negotiate.
The underlying cause of these difficulties is the position of the support surface relative to the seating unit. On coffee tables, the support surface is too low and too far forward for convenient access to the occupant of the seating unit. On end tables, the support surface is placed beside, rather than directly in front of, the seated occupant. However, furniture styles dictate that coffee tables and end tables provide support surfaces in these locations.
One common solution to this problem is the use of a portable xe2x80x9cTV trayxe2x80x9d that can be placed in front of the seating unit at a reasonably comfortable height and location. However, typically such TV trays are stored at locations that are some distance away from the seating unit, and are not, therefore, particularly convenient. Also, because these units are intended to be portable, they are often rather light and can tip easily when jostled by an occupant of the seating unit.
Another approach to this problem is offered through the use of table surfaces that store within the armrest of a seating unit. In one such example, the upholstered top surface of the armrest opens to expose an internal cavity in the armrest within which is stored a tray. This table surface, which is mounted within the cavity, rises above the armrest and pivots to provide a support surface immediately in front of an occupant of the seating unit. Another approach has been to include a table surface that emerges from the front of the armrest to pivot into position in front of an occupant.
Each of these approaches has certain drawbacks. First, including the mechanisms that enable the table surface to fold into position from the armrest cavity can add both cost and weight to the seating unit. Second, in each instance access to the table surface requires that some portion of the armrest be removable. As such, this can adversely impact the appearance of the seating unit, and may be appropriate only with certain furniture styles.
A seating unit of the present invention can address some of the aforementioned shortcomings by providing a support surface that can be easily accessed and used with a wide variety of furniture styles. A seating unit of the present invention comprises: an armrest having an aperture (preferably located in an inward surface of the armrest); a table having a support surface mounted on and above a mounting post; and a mounting bracket mounted within the armrest. The mounting bracket is configured to receive the mounting post through the aperture in the armrest and to detachably secure the mounting post such that the support surface is generally horizontally disposed. In this configuration, a seating unit of the present invention can provide a table-type surface in a convenient location for an occupant of the seating unit, yet the table can be removed when its presence is undesirable.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the aperture in the armrest is positioned below the upper support surface of a seat cushion, thereby hiding the aperture from view when the seating unit is unoccupied. Preferably, the seat cushion compresses sufficiently under the weight of an occupant to expose the aperture, with the result that the table can be inserted easily into the aperture for mounting.
The mounting bracket preferably comprises: a mounting panel adapted for mounting to a front stump of the armrest; an inward panel that extends rearwardly from the mounting panel that includes an entry aperture; and a plurality of guide members attached to and extending rearwardly from the mounting panel. The guide members are configured and arranged to receive and detachably secure the mounting post of a removable table, as the inward panel aperture and the guide members define a travel path for the mounting post.